The visit gave her the urge to want to be among the contestants for the title next year. Miss Melrose won the Queen of the Lakes title this year. "You almost need to be a visiting queen to get an idea of what takes place before returning to compete for the title of Queen of the Lakes," Holli said.
Upon her arrival on Saturday morning, the visiting royalty had breakfast together then headed to the Grand Day parade. The visiting queens rode on the Midwest Queen's float. "We stood on the float the entire parade," Holli added.
Following the parade, the visiting royalty had lunch at Tugg's On the Main. They then headed back to the Radisson Metrodome Hotel to check into their room and prepare for dinner at the Normandy. "The dinner gave us a chance to get acquainted and introduce ourselves to the Aquatennial commodores and ambassadors.
Following breakfast the next morning, the visiting royalty attended the milk carton boat races on Lake Nokomis. "They were fun to watch," Holli said. She explained there were three boats competing at a time and the winners of each heat had to race off for the overall title. Holli thought the race would be something fun to try during the Paynesville Town and Country Days festivities.
After the races, they headed to Lake Minnetonka and had lunch on the Minnehaha, an old river boat pulled from the bottom of the lake and restored. "We all had a chance to steer the boat," Holli said. The queens were given a boat ride across the lake where they had a picnic at the Anderson's residence on the lake. That evening, they watched the fireworks from Harriet Island. "They had six bursts up all the time," she said. The fireworks were a half-hour of constant color."
The visiting royalty toured the Piper Jaffray office and had a chance to watch the trading on the floor. "They had to caution the traders to watch their language during the tour," she added.
They also visited the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital and presented the kids with Aquatennial T-shirts. "The kids were really happy to meet the various queens," Holli said. "For one 17-year-old, we really made his day."
Holli encourages any queen who has a chance to take part in the festivities to join the fun. "The three days really went by fast. We were really kept busy," she added. After taking part as a visiting royalty, Whitcomb is checking into the time period restrictions to see if she is eligible to compete for the title next year. "I think it would really be fun to compete for the title," Holli added.
Previous Article
Next Article
[ Return to Previous Menu | Archived Press Stories Menu | Return to the News Page ]